General Motors and Mitra Chem Wednesday announced GM has completed $40 million of a planned $60 million investment in the company’s efforts to produce a less expensive iron-based EV battery. EPA-EFE/Jeff Kowalsky
Aug. 16 (UPI) — General Motors said Wednesday it has completed $40 million of a $60 million investment in the start-up company Mitra Chem to develop and produce new iron-based EV battery technology.
Instead of using expensive minerals like cobalt and nickel, Mitra Chem’s new EV battery tech uses iron-based cathode active materials like lithium manganese iron phosphate to power more affordable EV batteries.
Adding manganese to the iron phosphate increases battery power density compared to using iron alone while still making the new tech much less expensive for consumers.
GM’s investment will help scale up Mitra Chem’s current R&D to speed up getting the new battery tech to market.
“GM’s investment in Mitra Chem will not only help us develop affordable battery chemistries for use in GM vehicles but also will fuel our mission to develop, deploy and commercialize U.S. made, iron-based cathode materials that can power EVs, grid-scale electrified energy storage and beyond,” said Mitra Chem CEO and Co-Founder Vivas Kumar in a statement.
Mitra Chem’s iron-based cathode materials will be compatible with GM’s Ultium EV propulsion platform.
Swapping iron-based material for the cobalt and nickel will mean domestic manufacturing that’s not reliant on sourcing of those more expensive minerals through foreign supply chains.
“This is a strategic investment that will further help reinforce GM’s efforts in EV batteries, accelerate our work on affordable battery chemistries like LMFP and support our efforts to build a North America-focused battery supply chain,” said a statement from GM Vice-President of Technology Acceleration Commercialization Gil Golan.
He added that GM is accelerating larger investments in battery technology and “Mitra Chem’s labs, tools and talent will fit well with our own R&D team’s work.”
Mitra Chem said it is positioned to disrupt the global production and supply chain of vital battery materials and revitalize the North American battery supply industry.
The Inflation Reduction Act, Mitra Chem said, has “supercharged demand for U.S. made battery materials” through consumer tax credits for domestically produced battery materials.
Mitra Chem said there are many other investors backing the company’s development and marketing efforts for the new EV battery material.
Investors include Social Capital, Fontinalis Partners, Earthshot Ventures, The Keffi Group, Boutique Venture Partners, and new investors like GS Futures, Bricks Capital Management, Zeon Ventures, Scribble VC, WovenEarth Ventures, Bonds Investment Group, and others.
In April 2022 GM joined Tesla, Nissan and other automakers looking for ways to eliminate cobalt from lithium EV batteries.
Cobalt accounts for roughly a quarter of the cost to make a lithium-ion battery.
Mitra Chem’s technology, if developed successfully, would eliminate both cobalt and nickel from EV battery manufacturing.